Both men were heroes, Scott says. "I don't know many (young people) who would stand up and take a bullet," he says. "As Americans, we're used to seeing that from our military, but not from private citizens. What Matt did and Nick did certainly demonstrated what's best about us."

As law enforcement officials pieced together a motive behind the Aurora theater shooting, stories emerged about the friends and strangers who rushed to shield others and help the injured.

Colorado's Gov. John Hickenlooper spoke of the many acts of bravery on Meet the Press on Sunday.

One man protected his son's wounded girlfriend. "They're in the front row ... so the shooter is right over them and instead of running away he stays there and saves her life in the end, kept her from bleeding to death," Hickenlooper said. Outside the theater, a woman took off her belt and fashioned it into a tourniquet to bind the thigh of one of the wounded. "I mean one after another, acts of heroism."

Sometimes, acts of courage were overcome by the terror and chaos of the shooting.

Despite her own panic, Jennifer Seeger, 22, used her training as a firefighter to calm others. "I told people to lay down and pretend they were dead," she said. When there was a temporary break in the shooting, Seeger said, she checked the pulse of someone who had been wounded in the back.

"I could tell he was fading," she said. "I put my hands under his arms and started to drag him towards the door. Then someone yelled (the shooter) was coming. I got scared and dropped him. ... I ran."

When Marcus Weaver, 41, saw the alleged gunman toss two canisters, he thought they were firecrackers and part of a stunt. But then there were blasts of gunfire.

He tried to blanket his friend Rebecca Wingo.

"You could hear people praying and people screaming," including children, he said. "The sounds were unbelievable. I knew I was (a) goner for sure."

The gunman kept shooting, "spraying rows of seats," he said. "When it stopped, I tried to make a break for the door. I was tumbling over people and people were tumbling over me. I got shot as I was trying to get away."

Weaver was wounded twice in the shoulder. Fleeing the theater he caught a glimpse of Wingo with blood on her forehead before the two became separated in the crowd.

A day later, Wingo was listed among the 12 slain.

Chris Ramos, 20, was caught in the bedlam with his 17-year-old sister, Stephanie. He urged those around him to stay low, beneath their seats before they rushed out into the lobby.

"A guy right next to us got shot," Ramos says. "I wish I could have grabbed more people. I was just focused on my sister."